Smelter



G. A, LA VOIE March 3, 1936.

SMELTER Filed Feb. 19, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 as I JW VAVV T01 2. 550%.5A. 1/7 Vow.

w ITTOR/VIEX Patented Mar. 3, 1936 SMELTER George A. La Voie, LongBeach, Calif.

Application February 19, 1934, Serial No. 711,968

6 Claims. (01. 266--27) UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE This inventionrelates to a smelter whereby metals are released from their ores orsands and are collected in a melted state, the slat or dross beingcontinuously withdrawn as the smelter opcrates.

An object of my invention is to provide a smelter utilizing oil burnersfor heat, the incoming charge being continuously fed into the smelterthru a hopper.

Another object is to provide a smelter which will effectively handleores or sands without first preheating or roasting the ores in order toremove moisture. In my smelter, this operation is accomplished withinthe smelter itself, thereby eliminating time and labor.

A further object is to provide a novel feeding arrangement for the orewhereby a portion of the hot gases introduced into the smelter arediverted against the bottom of the hopper, thereby drying the charge.

A further object is to provide a novel construction and arrangement ofthe oil burners so that the charge is effectively heated.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention may appear from theaccompanying drawings, the subjoined detailed description, and theappended claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of my smelter, a portion ofthe outlet tunnel and stack being shown in section.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the smelter.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33 of Fig. 4.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the smelter.

Figure 5 is a front elevation of the smelter.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 66 of Fig. 4.

Figure '7 is a sectional view taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, my smelter I comprises sidewalls 2, 3, a front wall 4 and a rear wall 5. An arch 6 forms the top orroof of the smelter and extends longitudinally thereof. A hopper 1extends thru the arch 6 and the ore to be smelted is first placed in thehopper.

A pair of spaced bafile walls 8, 9 is provided within the smelter, and abed It] is positioned between the walls 8, 9. This bed slopes towardsone corner so that the metal and slag can be easily withdrawn, as willbe further described.

An opening H is provided in the front wall 4 and at the bottom of saidwall, for the purpose of admitting air into the smelter. Ore is fed fromthe hopper 1 into the bed I0 thru a vertical chute [2. The lower face ofthe chute I2 is arched, as shown at [3, and the rear edge thereof iscloser to the bed It so as to constrict the flow of the gases. Thepurpose of this constriction will be further described.

An opening I4 is provided in the front wall 4, and an oil burner I5extends therethru. The

opening is flared on the inside so that'the burner I5 can be adjustedand its flame directed to the point desired within the smelter.

Openings I6, I! are provided in the walls 2, 3, respectively, andburners l8, 19 extend into the openings l6, II, respectively. Theseopenings are positioned adjacent the baflle wall 8 and are flared on theinside so that the burners can be adjusted and the flame from theseburners directed to the desired point within the smelter. A secondburner opening I6 is provided below the opening 5 to enable a burner tobe placed closer to the bed Ill, if necessary. Auxiliary burner openings20, 2| are provided in the walls 2, 3, respectively, adjacent the bafllewall 9. The purpose of these auxiliary openings is to enable the burnersl8 or l9 to be moved if the slag should become cool on the bed l0 andrefuse to flow downwardly to the outlet.

The hot gases, after moving over the bed l0, pass downwardly thru theoutlet 22, into the tunnel 23, and thence to the stack 24. If desired,the tunnel 23 is widened adjacent to the stack 24 and water is sprayedonto the exhaust gases thru pipes 25. The water dissolves the noxiousmaterials in the gases and flows thru outlets 26 in the floor of thetunnel, and thence to the sump 21.

A suction fan 28, of usual and well known design, pulls the gases thruthe tunnel 23, and thence into the stack 24.

As previously stated, the chute l2 constricts the flow of gases over thebed It]. The purpose of this construction is to force some of the hotgases upwardly into the passage 29. This passage extends upwardly andagainst the bottom of the hopper l. The by-pass ducts 30, 3| extend fromthe passage 29 around the chute l2, and thence into a passage 32, whichlast named passage opens into the smelter back of the chute. A damper 33is provided in the passage 32 to control the quantity of hot gases whichflow therethru. By means of this by-pass arrangement, the ore ispreheated in the hopper l, and moisture is removed therefrom before itenters the chute l2.

As previously stated, the bed Ill is inclined towards one corner, and ametal outlet hole 34 is provided in the Wall 2. Slag holes 35 are alsoprovided in the wall 2 above the hole 34, and the slag will flow almostcontinuously from these last named holes.

The burners I5, I 8 and I9 burn continuously, and-the hot gases fromthese burners are directed against the cone of ore which is formedbetween the chute l2 and the bed I9. As the metal and slag melt,additional quantities of ore will move downwardly into the chute [2,while the melted products spread over the bed Ill. The metal being theheaviest, rests on the bottom and eventually flows out of the hole 34.The lighter slag floats on top and flows out of the holes 35.

The side walls of the smelter are suitably reinforced by structuralsteel members 36, 31. These structural members are arranged so as toabsorb the stresses in the side walls.

' Having described my invention, I claim:

I. A'smelter comprising side walls, front and rear walls,;a top arch,spaced baiiie Walls, a bed between the bafilecwalls, a hopper, a chutedepending from the hopper, said chute being adapted and arranged todeposit material upon the bed, an air passage in the front Wall, oilburners extending thru the side walls and the front wall whereby heat issupplied to the smelter, said chute extending across the smelter andprojecting into the space above the bed whereby a constricted passage isformed above the bed for the hot gases, said hopper having an'upwardlyextending passage therein, and by-pass ducts extending from the passagearound the chute, said passage and ducts conveying hot gases against thebottom of the hopper whereby moisture is removed from the charge.

2'. A smelter comprising side walls, front and rear walls, a top arch,front andrearbaiile walls inthe smelter, an inclined bed extendingbetween said baflie walls, each of said side walls having a burneropening therein adjacent the front baffie wall and adjacent the rearbaffle wall, said front wall having 'a burner opening therein, a burnerin the 'front wall and a burner in each of the side walls, a hopper, achute depending from the hopper and projecting into a space above thebed and transversely of the smelter, the bottom face of the chutebeingarched trahsverselyand inclined 1ongitudinally whereby a flowconstriction is provided above the bed for the hot gases, said hopperhavinga by-pass passage extending adjacent the'bottom thereof, andby-pass ducts extending from said passage around the chute whereby thebottomof the hopper and the charge therein are heated.

V 3. A smelter comprising side walls, front and rear walls, a top arch,a pair of spaced transversely extending baffle walls in the smelter, an

inclined bed extending between said baffle walls, a hopper, a chutedepending from the hopper, said chute extending transversely of thesmelter and into a space above the bed and between the baflie wallswhereby a constricted passage is formed above the bed for the hot gases,said side walls having burner openings therein between the baffle walls,burners projecting thru said openings, a burner opening in the frontwall, a burner projecting thru said last named opening, and an airpassage in the front wall adjacent the bottom thereof.

4. A smelter comprising side walls, front and rear walls, a top arch, apair of spaced transversely extending bafile walls in the smelter, aninclined bed extending between said baflle walls,

a hopper, a chute depending from the hopper,

said. chute extending transversely of the smelter and into a space abovethe bed and between the baflle Walls whereby a constricted passage isformed above the bed for the hot gases, said side walls having burneropenings therein between the baffle walls, burners projecting thru saidopenings,;a burner opening in the front wall, a burner projecting thrusaid last named opening, an air passage in the front wall adjacent thebottom thereof, said hopper having an upwardly extending passage in thebottom thereof and by-pass ducts extending from the passage around thechute, said passage and ducts conveying hot gases against the bottom ofthe hopper whereby moisture is removed from the charge.

5. A smelter comprising side walls, front and rear walls, a top arch,spaced baffle walls, a bed between the baflie walls, said bed beinginclined, a hopper, achute depending from the hopper, said chute beingadapted and arranged to deposit material upon the bed, an air passage inthe front Wall, 011 burners extending through the side walls and thefront wall whereby heat is supplied to the smelter, said chute extendingacross the smelter and projecting into the space above the bed whereby aconstricted passage is formed above the bed for the hot gases.

6. A smelter comprising side walls, front and rear walls, a top arch,spacedv bafile walls, a bed between the baffie walls, said bed beinginclined, a hopper, a chute depending from the hopper, said chute beingadapted and arranged to deposit material upon the bed, an air passage inthe front Wall, oil burners extending through the side walls and thefront wallwhereby heat is supplied to the smelter, sald chute extendingacross the smelter and projecting into the space above the bed, thelower surface of said chute being arched transversely of the smelter andinclined longitudinally of the smelter whereby a constricted passage isformed above the bed for the hot gases.

GEORGE A. LA VOIVE.

